Sunday, November 27, 2011

My NEW FRIEND JILLY!!!

First of all ladies please bare with me on this post I am AWFUL at writing and this one will be kinda lengthy!! Second, I believe NOTHING happens by accident and this was all supposed to happen the way it has... A while ago I was made aware of this family with an amazing little girl named Jilly... I decided I wanted to do something special for this family for Christmas and that was buy Jilly an Ipad to help her communicate and use while in the hospital. WELL one of my amazing fans donated the Ipad for her... I have already raised $1000.00 for her and plan on using that to purchase a gift card for toys r us to let Jilly and her brother buy WHATEVER they WANT not NEED for Christmas... :)))) I also need to make it clear this family has never asked me for anything NOW I have a new plan for them I will post a letter a came across on her page and then I will share my thoughts and plans for this AMAZING, LOVING and WONDERFUL family...A message from Craig and Joy Kimble:
We have the most beautiful little girl, who has blessed our home greatly! She came to us at 5wks. Old, and now here we are, almost 5yrs. later… we Love her
More and More each day (if that is possible!)
We love her as our own; we care for her as our own both physically and financially,
Now we wish to fulfill our dream of making her legally, our own!
Some may think, that it is unusual to bring a Medically fragile child into our lives, and want to make her our own… but, I do believe that our Hearts were prepared for her, long before our precious girl existed… you see, we lost a beautiful son to a kidney defect… his Birthday was January 5th, 1996. That was also the day that we had to plan his funeral. We were heart broken, just devastated to loose Craig Jr. But, as you know…
Life goes on, even when we have lost a piece of our heart.
We had two older sons, and after loosing our baby, we went on to have another son that same year. We are truly blessed with all 4 sons that we have, even the one that we did not get a chance to know, but know that we will see him again in heaven someday.
We thought our family was complete…
But then came January 5th, 2007 (exactly 11yrs. after we lost our son).
A beautiful little girl was born; she was given a special Heart… A HLHS Heart.
We didn’t even know she existed, but like I said: God was working in our Hearts
to prepare us for Her!!!
Meanwhile, She was all alone in a very big hospital, enduring her 1st open heart surgery.
A month later, she came home to our area, only to be abandoned in our local hospital…
Again, alone in this world.
It was then, that we heard about this precious child and went to visit her in the hospital. She was so sickly and so sad… afraid of the only world she had known.
We held her, and I believe that we immediately fell in Love with her… just as parents who hold their newborn for the first time, fall in Love!
We came back later that day, to hold her again… that night, we could not forget about her and the very next day was the beginning of our lives together.
The next day:

Craig had to go to work, I was off of work for a medical disability and had the time to move into the hospital and care for this little girl. I never left her again!
We met Her on a Monday, and by Friday… child protective services placed her in our care. She was never placed in Social Services Custody, but rather signed over to us as if we were her “third” parents. We took her in, knowing that it could be a temporary thing if the biological parents chose to learn how to care for her. That was very difficult for us at first, but our Love for her helped us remember that we were there to do what was best for Her. It became clear, quite quickly, that this little girl would need a permanent place to live and be cared for… we did not hesitate to say YES, we will do this! When she was 6 months old, a judge with Family Court gave us full custody of her. It was then, that we became her official: Legal Guardians.
Immediately, we desired to also adopt this little girl… but we knew there were some financial barriers to this happening. First and foremost, was the fact that She had enormous medical bills, and we must find a way to provide that financial stability. Thankfully, she already had NY State Medicaid, but adopting her would mean that she would loose this. We eventually found out that we could apply for a Medicaid Waiver for her, which would ensure that she had her Medicaid Services till, at least the age of 18 years old. At 8yrs. Old, we will be able to apply for a waiver that will also ensure her the medical benefits for life.
As of January, 2011 we got the official word that She had received the Medicaid waiver and it was at that point… that we knew we could pursue an adoption, of our little girl.
OUR ONLY ROAD BLOCK AT THIS POINT,
is to obtain an attorney.
As we have investigated this, we have learned that there can be some really big expenses to complete an adoption. The biggest is the Lawyer expenses, but adoption laws have become very complicated and we know that it would not be the best choice to try to do this without a lawyer A message from Jilly:Hi, I was born, Jilliann Rose… the “Ann” part came from my Maternal-Grandmother’s name.
It is a name that I will always keep, in part.
But, I have a little secret I will let you in on…
when my adoption is completed,
my Mommy and Daddy plan to “add” to my name…
It will be: JillyAnna RoseMarie Kimble.
My Mommy always planned to name her daughter (if she were to have one) with the middle name of Marie. And yet, my Mommy says that I am as beautiful as a Rose, so why not add the two together.
Since I commonly go by: Jilly… it only made sense to change the spelling of my 1st name, to include “Jilly”. The “a” at the end, well Mommy just thinks that makes my name even More beautiful,
like she says I am!
Let me tell you about the only family, that I have ever known…
I love them soooo very much and I tell them so, every single day!!!
My Mommy, Daddy, and brother Devin have been by my side through everything that I have gone through (and that, is a lot!)
When I am sad or in pain, my family comforts me!
When I am happy and laughing, my family is laughing with me!
When I have to live at the hospital, my Mommy lives there with me; and my Daddy and Brother come visit me, every chance they get!
When I took my 1st steps, relearned to take steps after my
1st Stroke, and again after my last brain injury…
my family was there cheering me on!
When I had my Strokes, my family was there to teach me everything
all over again, twice!
When I said my 1st word, (which was mama, by the way),
and my second word and now many words…
my family was there to celebrate!
When I almost died on November 4th, 2010...
My Mommy and Daddy were there praying for me, with tears in their eyes and a big ache in their hearts!
When I giggle and laugh (which is all the time, these days),
My Family is laughing and giggling with me.
We go places together, but my favorite thing to do is go “HOME”…
In fact, “Home” was the 1st word I said when arriving home in
June, 2010 after a 3 month stay in the hospital…
surprising everyone, as I had never said it before!
I said it again, after spending another 3months in the hospital at the end of 2010/beginning of 2011.
Being HOME with my Family, is what makes me Happy!!!
I know my Mommy and Daddy love me,
and they tell me all the time too!
I really like to snuggle with my family too, even my big brother who gets embarrassed when I try to kiss him!!!
We ARE a family, a Mommy, Daddy, Brother, and even my Adult Brothers… and ME!!!
ADOPTION, would mean, that officially, I would have a Legal-Permanent Home with my family and I would have the same Last Name as my FAMILY!MORE FROM THE FAMILY:It would mean the World to OUR FAMILY…
if we could make it official!!!A LEGALLY BINDING ADOPTIONThere is just one problem…
Our family has invested all of our finances, into raising Jilly.
This includes: making the decision to stay a one-income family, so that Mommy can be there for all of Jilly’s needs and hospital stays…
and Daddy giving up his higher paying job, to take a local job
so that he can get us to the hospital whenever needed.
There have been so many travels out of state for medical care, a very costly thing needed to help keep Jilly healthy.
We have adapted our home to Jilly’s needs
Craig and Devin even built a ramp to our front door
so that we can get Jilly in and out much easier and safer.
We have worked very hard, to provide Jilly with everything she needs, and at the same time… trying to give one special little girl, all that her heart desires (within reason, of course!)
Sadly, the one thing we cannot provide (due to the cost), is the Adoption we so desire for Jilly (most importantly), and for Us too!
But, we know that one day... God willing, it WILL happen!!

A few months ago:

A dear friend, suggested that we ask our facebook friends to support us with an online fundraiser. The thought started, with the need and desire to purchase Jilly an ipad for educational and communication purposes. Our friend, raising a child who has gone through so very much in his young life, like Jilly has… had this same thing done for them… a fundraiser to purchase an ipad. They asked for just $1.oo from each of their friends, and were able to purchase the ipad for their son, also needed for educational/communicational purposes.
When I mentioned having a fundraiser for Jilly’s ipad,
another friend suggested that we raise moneys for both
the ipad, and the adoption…
estimates suggest that the ipad + apps. + supplies would cost us
Aprox $1,000.00.
The Adoption, may cost as much as $2,500.00.
Honestly, the ipad will need to come 1st, as Jilly now has less than a year before she starts Kindergarten… and her speech therapist has recommended that she gets the ipad soon,
to give more time to learn how to use it.
On the other hand, our hope is to be able to adopt Jilly
prior to Kindergarten, so she can enter that next stage of her life
with the same last name as her Family.

I want to make it clear,
that Jilly is not at risk of being taken away from us…
Our hopes, is that the birth parents will willingly relinquish their rights so that we can proceed with the adoption easily.
We have put this all in God’s hands, and know that if the time is right He will open the doors for us to proceed!
If, not… we will continue to raise Jilly for as long as she lives, adoption or no adoption.
I also want to make sure that everyone realizes that we understand if anyone chooses not to take part in this fundraiser.
This world, has many needs… we are not alone in our desires.
Many of our dear facebook friends, are also raising children with special needs… and times are tough for all of us!
Prayers, are on the top of our list of needs,
and so many have supported us with those, from day one!
All of the kind messages and acts of kindness we have received over the years have meant so much to us!!!
So please know, that you are appreciated so deeply and that does not rely on a financial donation!
I also want to mention, that we have had some wonderful friends and family, who have helped us with financial gifts throughout the years and they too, are deeply appreciated!
So that is our story, our Hopes, Plans, Goals...
With Sincere gratitude to all who support us in so many ways,
Craig and Joy Kimble, Devin and Jilly too!

So if you have made it this far in the post you can most likely guess what I want to do ... I want to pay for their adoption.. EVERY child deserves a family and let's face it we all know that Jilly knows exactly who her mommy and daddy are but that little piece of paper would be a big comfort to her parents.. :)) So my new journey begins.. God has laid this in my heart and it will not go away!! Thanks to all of you amazing folks for making this possible for me to do for such a BEAUTIFUL FAMILY!!

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This part always seems so bizarre to me.... I hate writing about myself.. Who I am in a nutshell-Wife, mommy to three amazing kiddos, daughter, true friend, christian, disorganized, messy :), addicted to diet coke, love textiles, love bright fun colors, never get tired of touching and looking at all fabrics, love seeing a childs face when they love one of my designs, just happened to start a clothing company for kiddos and love it, dislke mean people, dislike people who talk about themselves all the time, dislike dishonesty, dislike freezing cold weather, dislike tennis shoes and really dislike cleaning my house :)) that's about it in a nutshell... not very exciting huh!!!